On this auspicious day, we remember with reverence and pride the struggle and sacrifices of our freedom fighters to liberate India. Today, India occupies the pride of place in the comity of nations as the largest democracy and as an example of peaceful coexistence in a multicultural society.
Our rapid economic growth, in the backdrop of strong performance by the Indian economy despite the recent global financial crisis, has further reinforced our position in the international community. The success of indigenous space, nuclear and defense programs attests to the success achieved by us in the fields of science and technology, particularly in developing state-of-the-art technologies in frontier areas of information and communications technology, biotechnology and nanotechnology.
The historic visit by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to India in 2006 and the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Saudi Arabia in February 2010 reflect the strong commitment of the two leaderships to further deepen and strengthen our bilateral relations. The “Delhi Declaration” signed during King Abdullah’s visit sets out a road map for the enhancement of our economic ties, while the “Riyadh Declaration,” signed during the visit of our prime minister, raises our relations to the level of a “strategic partnership” based on enhanced political, economic, security and cultural cooperation.
India and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong economic and commercial relations based on the inherent complementarities of our economies. Saudi Arabia supplies almost one-fifth of India’s crude oil imports. We appreciate the assurance by the Saudi leadership to increase crude oil supplies to meet India’s future needs. Bilateral trade has registered unprecedented increase in recent years, and is valued at $18.3 billion for the period April-December, 2010. Indian investments in the Kingdom have crossed $2.5 billion, with major Indian companies operating in sectors such as information technology, construction, contracting services, engineering goods etc.
The economies of both the countries are in the midst of rapid socio-economic transformation, providing new opportunities for cooperation, and scope for growth and knowledge-sharing by learning from each others’ experience. India can benefit from Saudi investments in the infrastructure, manufacturing and services sectors of the Indian economy, while Indian companies can benefit from the opportunities available in construction, banking, IT services, petroleum and hydrocarbon sectors in Saudi Arabia. India, with its experience in the field of human resource development and its reputation as a knowledge-based economy, can be a valuable partner for the Kingdom.
Indians in the Kingdom have contributed to the growth and development of Saudi Arabia, a fact appreciated by the Saudi leadership. The Indian economy too has benefited from the remittances sent by the two million strong Indian community of the Kingdom. I would like to thank the members of Indian community in the Kingdom for their integrity, discipline and diligence and their role in strengthening our bilateral relations. I do believe that the Indian community would continue to be the “most preferred expatriate community” in the Kingdom for its skills, diligence, creativity and hardworking nature.
I am confident that Indo-Saudi relations will achieve new heights in coming years and the region and the world will benefit from the new partnership between these two traditional friends and allies for peace, stability and development.
